White House Red-Faced Over Rove Immigration Remark
February 09, 2007
ABC News' Karen Travers Reports: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove explained the Bush Administration's guest worker program and immigration policy at a luncheon Thursday by saying, "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."
The statement appeared on The Corner, National Review's blog, and has been gaining steam ever since.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino told ABC News that the White House does not deny that Rove made the remark but claims it has been taken out of context.
Rove was speaking at a Republican women's luncheon and was talking about the President's immigration policy and the need for a system where willing workers get paired with willing employers, Perino said.
Rove talked about how there are so many vacant jobs in this country and how many of them are in low-skill, low-wage sectors of the economy.
Rove was not insulting those people in those jobs, the White House explained, he was, according to Perino, saying that every parent wants their child to have a high-skilled, high-wage job.
Perino said Rove addressed the fact that immigrants are coming to this country -- and doing anything they can to get here -- and want their children to have those same opportunities for good jobs.
She said Rove addressed the need for a program that helps immigrants be able to come to America and work legally because they have dreams and goals.
Perino said that Rove was "disappointed" that this blogger took his remarks out of context. |
